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Bandit Challenges are gameplay challenges which involve robberies, horse and stagecoach thefts and other malicious acts in the single-player of Red Dead Redemption 2.

These challenges must be done in order, progress made before they are activated does not count.

Note that this challenge tree may result in heavy honor loss. It is possible to complete this challenge thread as Arthur; however, it cannot be started until the beginning of Chapter Three as it will not unlock until that point, and cannot be completed until the player does the mission "Horse Flesh for Dinner".

Challenges[]

  • Rank 1: Hold up five townsfolk.
  • Rank 2: Rob two coaches along the road or complete any two coach robbery missions.
  • Rank 3: Rob the cash register in any four shops in one day.
  • Rank 4: Rob three coaches in a day.
  • Rank 5: Amass a $250 bounty in one State.
  • Rank 6: Steal five horses and sell them to the horse fence at Clemens Cove.
  • Rank 7: Rob $50 worth of cash and valuables from townsfolk and travelers.
  • Rank 8: Steal seven wagons and sell them to the fence at Emerald Ranch.
  • Rank 9: Hogtie someone and leave them on the railroad three times.
  • Rank 10: Complete five train robberies without dying or being caught.

Rank 1[]

Hold up five townsfolk.

Reward: Bandit Bandolier

It is best to try and do this in the alleyways of St Denis at night or at any of the houses near the fundraiser side mission.

If you happen to be pickpocketed while this challenge is active, you can chase down the thief and take your money back to add to the challenge without losing honor.

In the mission "Urban Pleasures" you have the option to rob three citizens in the trolley station. This will help complete the challenge a lot faster.

After the epilogue, another two good options are to rob people in Armadillo, where it is lawless, or the fishing community west of the ruins of Braithwaite Manor, as they'll rarely denounce the player's crimes to the law if caught alone and afar from their shacks.

Rank 2[]

Rob two coaches along the road or complete any two coach robbery missions.

Reward: 25 Dead Eye XP and $5

Loot any item from the container attached to a wagon, or take any wagon to a Fence.

Rank 3[]

Rob the cash register in any four shops in one day.

Reward: Bandit Holster

This can vary depending on story progress. An early method can be Valentine Doctor - Wallace Station General Store - Strawberry General Store - Valentine General Store. This allows time in Valentine for the law to stop actively searching.

If you are adept at dodging the Saint Denis Police Department, it is possible to complete the entire challenge in the city. For example, fence - general store - doctor - tailor.

Loading the game from any save resets the progress of this objective.

Rank 4[]

Rob any three coaches or return any three stolen coaches to the fence in a day.

Reward: 50 Dead Eye XP and $10

Take a stagecoach from Valentine to Emerald Station. Rob it, steal from it, and sell it to the fence. Take the stagecoach back to Valentine and rob it again. It is highly advised to have the lock breaker.

Do coach robbery missions (assuming there are any still available) if you wish to avoid losing honor for this. Sean's coach robbery will count for two to make up for the coach not being able to be fenced.

Rank 5[]

Amass a $250 bounty in one State.

Reward: 50 Dead Eye XP and $10

Walk up and shoot someone in a city or town to be accused of murder as this crime carries one of the higher bounty amounts. This will start law enforcement actively searching for you. Kill all of the lawmen that come after you in the first wave and subsequent waves of lawmen who appear (each lawman is an additional murder charge) . You may run out of lawmen actively searching for you if you kill enough of them. You will have to commit another crime bad enough to get the attention of the lawmen again until you reach the required bounty.

Another way to complete this challenge is not equipping the Bandana while replaying the mission "Blessed are the Meek?", which will result in a max bounty of $300 that will clear after the mission replay is completed.

Playing the mission "Urban Pleasures" will allow the player to acquire this rank with ease.

Rank 6[]

Steal five horses and sell them to the horse fence at Clemens Cove.

Reward: 100 Dead Eye XP and $15

You must first complete the story mission "Horse Flesh for Dinner" in Chapter 3, which unlocks the horse fence.

Head to an enemy camp that randomly spawns nearby the horse fence. Sneak up and steal one of the horses quickly riding away to avoid damage. Do not start a fight or engage with the enemies. Whistle for your other horse as you gallop away and quickly ride to the horse fence to sell the stolen horse. Get back on your horse, return to the enemy camp, and the horses will have respawned. Sneak up again and steal another horse. This time the enemies will call out, "Oh, you're back again" or other taunts and they are a bit quicker to start attacking you. Repeat the process of riding away, calling your horse, and riding to the fence. You can repeat this process for all five horses pretty quickly as they are in a known place nearby. You will not lose honor for stealing the horses of enemies.

You can't sell the horse if you're under attack from anyone (like the person you stole the horse from). Stealing a wagon with two horses, taking the wagon to the horse fence and cutting them free one at a time can help speed this up.

While it'll take more time than just grabbing the horses of random passersby near the horse fence, stealing horses from the Lemoyne stables gives you less resistance, as the owners or the law usually don't chase you far from there.

Wild horses that are caught and broken will still count towards this challenge, allowing for this challenge to be completed without loss of honor.

Rank 7[]

Rob $50 worth of cash and valuables from townfolk and travelers.

Reward: Bandit Off-Hand Holster

Purchase a train ticket and the cutscene will play. When you arrive at your destination and the cutscene ends, stand up and begin robbing passengers in the train car. Robbing people in the first class cabin can quickly gain the required $50. Be aware that after a few passengers have been robbed the guards will begin attacking you. You will gain a bounty and you'll have to fight off the guards to continue robbing passengers (if you haven't already reached the required amount).

  • Robbing a few people and jumping off can help you avoid gaining a bounty.
  • Getting on a train from Annesburg heading north (or counter-clockwise round the map) can help as you pass through a tunnel where you may be able to avoid gaining a bounty.

If you happen to be pickpocketed while this challenge is active, you can chase down the thief and take your money back to complete the challenge without losing honor.

Rank 8[]

Steal seven wagons and sell them to the fence at Emerald Ranch.

Reward: 100 Dead Eye XP and $15

Around Emerald Ranch there are plenty of wagons that pass along the roads. Kill or subdue the driver(s), hop onto the wagon, and quickly drive to the wagon fence nearby. Make sure that there are no witnesses to your crime and that the law isn't actively searching for you or the wagon fence will not be available. Repeat the process for the remaining needed wagons.

In Emerald Station, there is a frequent spawn of a four-horse stagecoach. If you are having trouble finding frequent spawns of wagons on the nearby roads, this might be a good place to check.

Rank 9[]

Hogtie someone and leave them on the railroad three times.

Reward: 150 Dead Eye XP and $20

You are only required to drop the person onto the train tracks for this to count towards the challenge. There is no need for the train to run over the victim.

After you throw the victim onto the tracks, check the challenge screen to ensure that this victim counts towards the challenge. Sometimes throwing the person onto the tracks doesn't count. If it doesn't count, try picking them back up and squarely dropping them in-between the rails instead of off to the side or only onto one rail.

Use enemies if you wish to avoid losing honor.

Rank 10[]

Complete five train robberies without dying or being caught.

Reward: Bandit Gun Belt

This challenge requires some patience and carefully looting items.

Head to a train station to purchase a ticket. Valentine to Emerald Ranch (or vice versa) is a very cheap ticket and works well. Purchase the ticket, a cutscene will play, and you'll arrive at your destination. With the cutscene over, turn around, and head back through the train cars to the first cargo train car. This usually has a single can of vegetables on a crate. It might also be a chest on the floor to the right and a cabinet on the wall to the left. Either way, the goal is to loot a single cheap item quickly so that no one notices your theft.

Hop off the train, head to the train station, and purchase a return ticket back to the place you left from. When you arrive, and the cutscene is finished, head back to the first cargo car and loot the item again.

It is important to note that the can of vegetables (or other loot) may be gone. It may be there the second time or it may not. You may have to travel a bit further into the car to find a can of hair pomade on a barrel. In any case, take that item to register your second theft.

Make absolutely sure that you are carefully looking to see if anyone is looking at you from the remaining train cars if you had to travel past the beginning part of the first cargo car to find an item to steal. If you hear someone call out to you "Hey, you shouldn't be here..." or "What're you doing in here!" - quickly get off of the train and don't take any items. You will be caught and lose your progress.

After your second item is stolen without being caught, purchase another train ticket, wait for the cutscene, and then head back to find a third item. If the items are gone from your prior looting, you may have to catch a different train. You can do this by getting off the train, waiting for it to pull away from the station, and then purchasing another ticket. You may also want to pick a different location further away. Riggs Station and/or Wallace Station also work well to get a different train with different items in the first cargo car.

It is important to only take a single item per train trip. If the train doesn't respawn that same item on a return trip, there will still be items in that cargo car for you to take. If the item is too close to the door to the final cargo cars, don't risk it. Just hop off the train and try again on another trip to get better items that won't get you caught. You may have to travel several times, switch to different trains, and wait until another trip if the items aren't there or someone calls out to you.

Take your time, carefully take one item, watch the final train cars for any witnesses, and you'll quickly gain the required five thefts without being caught.

Video Walkthrough[]

Red_Dead_Redemption_2_-_Bandit_Challenge_Guide

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